Sports

Foster has not been able to practice since aggravating a left hamstring in preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.

By Terrance Harris

Posted: 09/08/2011 04:29 PM EDT

HOUSTON—The Houston Texans could be without running back Arian Foster, the NFL’s reigning rushing champion, when they open the season at home against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Foster has been sidelined since aggravating his left hamstring in the preseason game against San Francisco on Aug. 27. He originally injured the hamstring at the start of training camp, which forced him to sit out the first preseason game.

Now, nobody is certain whether Foster will be available for the season opener.

"You can't really expect anything with hamstrings," Foster said Wednesday. "Just taking it day-by-day. It's frustrating, but injuries are part of the game. You can't escape them, if you play this game for a long time. You just have to maintain them, and take care of them when they happen."

The Texans have a solid stable of running backs behind him, including second-year back Ben Tate, Derrick Ward and Steve Slaton. And while those three could be serviceable sharing the load in Foster’s place, Texans coach Gary Kubiak didn’t hesitate in saying the team is at its best when it has its star back in the backfield.

"We want him to play,” Kubiak said. “We need to be at our best to win a football game, but at the same time, we've got to listen to what's going on. As I said all along, the progress has been very good and I know there was more progress [Wednesday], so maybe this conversation is different tomorrow. I don't know. We'll see."